Renovation Blog

3 December - More listing nonsense
Well would you believe it? The conservation officer at the council now doesn't like the look of our new corrugated roofing that they asked us to put up! Apparently we "should have used reclaimed, rusted roofing" to make it look older. Nobody told us this, and we are frankly amazed at how unhelpful and unfriendly they are being. My wife rings up to try and discuss it but she is bullied and harrassed by the conservation officer and ends up in tears. Since we have been talking to them for well over a year and doing everything by the book we are aghast at their attitude towards us, particularly since we were trying to do exactly what they had asked. It appears there is no pleasing some people, and unfortunately they have the power to make us change the roof, so it looks like more unforeseen costs and wasted time for yours truly to replace it.

5 December - Crapper

In a moment of reckless abandon, we decide to install a Thomas Crapper WC in our main bathroom. Clearly an extravagance, but I persuade myself it will get regular use!

7 December - Cooking panics
Suddenly we are rather concerned about the prospect of cooking for so many people on our tiny electric cooker, so decide we must buy a new one, though we are not intending to re-do the kitchen for some time yet. More searching around online to find a decently-priced range cooker, and then we need to find a qualified LPG (liquid petroleum gas) man to fit it...

12 December - Tap misery
Our kitchen sink taps have been getting worse and worse, harder to turn off and dripping all the time. I don't want to remove them as access behind the sink is virtually impossible and eventually we will be replacing the kitchen. However, I have to sort them out as they are becoming unusable...

17 December - We're becoming popular
Rising heating oil prices and increased eco-awareness means lots of people are keen to come and look at our boiler installation, and I'm sure many of them will seriously be considering investing in one now. We are very happy with how it is working, and it's no trouble to run.

19 December - Nearly upon us
A mate comes to give me a hand as we do the final push before Christmas. A lof of it is window dressing to make the place habitable but clearing and tidying brightens our moods as we start to feel we can use some of the rooms at last.

27 December - We made it!
Everyone has left and we have a couple of days to recover before the next invasion for New Year. It's been good fun and the new cooker coped fine, and the house seemed to survive as well. We've had a few days off (if cooking for vast numbers is time off!) and are thinking about plans for the coming months...